Dear Colleagues,
There is a lot to cover in this month’s newsletter, so I hope you read to find out information on our upcoming Business and Membership Meeting, CME Events, the Care Transformation Incentive Program, MIGS Payment Rates, and Aetna’s Prior Authorization Policy for Cataract Surgery. We are also excited to welcome our new Association Manager, Ginger Tinsley! She has worked with MedChi in the past and we are excited to have her on board with MSEPS. Her contact info is: gtinsley@medchi.org or 410-878-9708.
With the ever-changing circumstances around Covid-19 and the Delta variant, we have decided to move our October 7th Annual Business and Membership Meeting to a virtual event. Senator Van Hollen will join us to receive the 2021 Legislative Award for his steadfast and effective advocacy for physicians, patients, and the public health. We hope that you and your colleagues will attend.
In other news, the AMA has launched a program on Racial and Health Equity: Concrete STEPS for Smaller Practices. In concert with this initiative, MSEPS, WDCMOS and VSEPS are establishing a health equity and diversity task force (separate from each society) to work on health equity, racial equity, anti-racism, and to improve diversity in ophthalmology. Please email Ginger if you are interested in joining or learning more.
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MSEPS wants to thank Mallinckrodt for their support of our Virtual Annual Conference. Please check out their link to show them our thanks.
Stay healthy!
Renee Bovelle, MD
MSEPS President
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MedChi is Seeking Ophthalmic Practices for Care Transformation Incentive Program
The Maryland Health Care Commission has awarded a grant to MedChi Care Transformation Organization (MedChi CTO) to engage qualifying primary care and specialty practices in a practice transformation program. The program goal is to prepare small practices to participate in alternative care delivery models.
The MedChi CTO will assist practices in completing specific transformation milestones such as assessing their readiness for transformation, redesigning workflows, and providing training to practice staff.
The practice will receive a $250 compensation for each of the first four milestones completed.
The application can be found HERE
- It will take no more than 15 minutes to complete
- The practice must have an EHR and may not already be part of the MPCP
- You will not need to print this application- you will enter your name as an electronic signature.
- Once completed, please “Save As”: [Practice Name] MHCC Practice Application.
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Please send the completed application to cto@medchi.org for review by September 24th
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With the Academy's support, our champions in Congress are calling on CMS to reconsider its proposed reimbursement rates for micro-invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS). Reps. Mark E. Green, MD, R-Tenn., and Mike T. Levin, D-Calif., are leading the effort with separate sign-on letters to CMS on the problematic reimbursement rates for the procedure in its proposed 2022 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule and Outpatient Prospective Payment System rules.
Get Your Congress Member to Join Bipartisan Action on Medicare Payment Cuts Reps. Ami Bera, MD, D-Calif., and Larry Bucshon, MD, R-Ind., have introduced a sign-on letter to generate support for preventing Medicare cuts in 2022. The Academy is asking members to contact their representatives in Congress and ask them to sign the letter. Ophthalmologists face a minimum 9% cut based on the proposed 2022 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule. Legislators are calling on House leaders to address the 2022 cuts before the end of the year. Last year's House effort resulted in a particularly strong bipartisan statement of support with more than half its members signing the letter.
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Academy Advocacy Request: Support Our Efforts to Rescind Aetna's Prior Authorization Policy for Cataract Surgery
As you are aware, Aetna has recently implemented a new requirement that it preapprove all cataract surgery as a condition for reimbursement. This new policy has delayed thousands of patient surgeries and goes against long-standing, evidence-based guidelines used by physicians to determine medical need.
We need your help to pressure Aetna into reversing its dangerous decision. Specifically, we are looking for ophthalmologists and/or their patients who are willing to share their perspectives on how prior authorization is impacting their lives with the media in the form of bylined opinion pieces. With the help of AAO, ASCRS and their communications partners, we can work with you to draft and submit the opinion-editorial to your local newspaper. The Academy will also promote these stories on the Academy’s social media channels.
If you are interested in taking a more public role in the fight against prior authorization, please email Susanne Medeiros, the Academy’s Director of Public Relations at smedeiros@aao.org. She will be happy to hear how Aetna’s new policy has impacted you and provide more information about how you can get involved.
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3rd Annual Mid-Atlantic Ocular Surface Forum
September 25, 2021
Virtual
On behalf of Dr. Esen Akpek and the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins University, I would like to cordially invite you to participate in our 3rd Annual Mid-Atlantic Ocular Surface Forum: “Effective Solutions for Challenging Cases". This important CME/CE educational event will take place on 9/25/2021 virtually hosted by The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD.
This educational event with didactic lectures and expert panel discussions is designed to heighten eye care providers' awareness and knowledge regarding identification, diagnosis and treatment of ocular surface diseases and dry eye. Experts from across the USA will be presenting challenging cases and providing evidence-based treatment recommendations using an interactive platform, with active participation from an estimated 200 attendees.
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